Tower station (subway)
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A Turmbahnhof the underground is an underground transport structure , which (at least) two subway stops unites above the other. In addition to directional stations, tower stations are the preferred variant of transfer stations for modern subway systems. For example, all correspondence stations of the Munich subway and those of the Taipei MRT are either tower or directional stations.
The term has established itself as an extension of the meaning of the original tower station of the railway.
Advantages of the tower station
Advantages from the passenger's point of view are the short transfer route between the two platforms, which ideally takes place via direct stairs, as well as easier orientation, since each platform usually runs in the same direction as the route. A traveler from the south who wants to continue to the east has to go up or down the stairs and then wait on the right platform, just as he would turn at an intersection.
Advantages from the client's point of view are that the intersecting lines do not have to be bent in order to run parallel for the entire length of the station (platforms plus switches), as would be the case with a direction station. The platforms of a tower train station do not necessarily have to be at right angles, but can also assume an acute angle, as is the case, for example, at a station of the Cologne city railway . In addition, there is no need to build a separate structure for the intersection of the routes, as it is built into the station.
Disadvantages of the tower station
From the user's point of view, it should be noted that very few passengers change to a train in the direction from which they came. Exactly this would be located on the opposite platform at a direction station, so that at a tower station it is not possible to change on the same platform.
From the client's point of view, it should be noted that more space is required for a tower train station, as the platforms may overlap, but do not lie directly on top of each other as in a direction train station with several floors. In addition, a tower station per se does not create a track connection between the two lines. If this is necessary for operational reasons, it must be set up separately. In Munich, for example, none of the three tower stations Hauptbahnhof , Odeonsplatz and Sendlinger Tor have a track connection , whereas all five tower stations between large-profile sections of the Berlin U-Bahn have a track connection.
Special tower stations
Germany's first underground station designed and built as a tower station is Hermannplatz in 1926 in Berlin. This station is also characterized by the unusually high ceiling of the lower platform, the hall of which extends just below the street.
Another special feature is the Berlin subway station Alexanderplatz , which opened in 1930 for the lines D (today's U8 ) and E (today's U5 ) . The station on route A (today's U2 ), which was integrated into the new facility, had already existed since 1913 . This created a double tower train station, the station of which on route E crosses under that of route D at its western end and that of route A at the eastern end. The three stations were not connected to one another directly, but rather via distribution levels.
The most striking tower station on the Berlin subway is Gleisdreieck . The structure, which opened in 1926 as a transfer station between lines A and B (today's U1 ), was built above ground as a high station .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Johannes Bousset: The Berlin U-Bahn . Published by Wilhelm Ernst & Sohn, Berlin 1935, p. 106.
- ↑ See the track plan of the Munich subway
- ↑ See the track plan of the Berlin U-Bahn . (The blue lines indicate the existing network)
